Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These are the absolute BEST red velvet cupcakes! A gorgeous red color, moist and fluffy, and topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting. The perfect Valentine’s treat!

Really, really good red velvet cupcakes can be totally elusive, right? Some are dry, some are TOO red. And what’s the story behind red velvet cake (and cupcakes) anyway?

After doing a little research, I found that while foods were rationed during war time, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the color of their cakes and to retain moisture. Red velvet cake was a signature dessert at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel during the 1920s, and was also well-known in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton’s department store chain in Canada during the 1940s and 1950s. Many attribute the cake’s recent popularity to the film Steel Magnolias, in which the groom’s cake was a red velvet cake in the shape of an armadillo.

I wasn’t always sold on red velvet, but I am now a full-fledged convert!

MY OTHER RECIPES

Watch How to Make Red Velvet Cupcakes

Testing Red Velvet Cupcakes

When I first tried a red velvet cupcake, to say that I was underwhelmed would be a gross understatement. After all of the buzz that red velvet had been receiving, I was expecting to be blown away.

What I ate was pretty dry and tasteless (although the cream cheese frosting was good!). I wasn’t impressed (obviously) and it was about six months before I would try one again.

During a little Georgetown cupcake tour while in DC for a weekend, I had a red velvet cupcake from Baked and Wired. It was seriously amazing. It changed my mind about red velvet – it was fluffy, moist, with a hint of chocolate, and was all kinds of delicious. I was an official convert.

The next step, of course, was to make a great one at home. I did some reading, I looked at a lot of recipes, and in the end I decided to try this one, which originated at the Hummingbird Bakery. And I’m so glad I did, because I don’t think a better one could exist.

If you are looking for a super moist red velvet cupcake recipe, this is IT! They are everything I was hoping for – moist, fluffy, a tiny bit chocolatey, and a perfect vehicle for a heaping pile of cream cheese frosting!

All red velvet cakes have specific ingredients in common: cocoa powder, white vinegar, buttermilk and baking soda; the reaction of the vinegar with the buttermilk helps to pull out the red color in the cocoa powder.

CAN YOU MAKE RED VELVET Cupcakes WITHOUT BUTTERMILK?

So, you want to make red velvet cupcakes, but you don’t have buttermilk. No problem – you can make your own!

Using soured milk is a key component to red velvet cake batter, as the acidic liquid is needed to combine with the baking soda and cocoa powder to get the rise and texture right, so if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, use the following substitution:

Pour 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup. Add enough milk (I recommend 2% or whole) to measure 1 cup total. Stir together and let sit for 5 minutes, then use as directed in the recipe below.

Red velvet cupcakes are amazing any time of year, but (obviously) especially around Valentine’s Day.

Dress them up with some pink and red sprinkles and share them with someone special!

Special Equipment:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin/cupcake pan with liners.

On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.

Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the largest cupcake comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting: Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

Wow! I have tried several recipes and this was a winner! I especially love that it makes a dozen cupcakes only. The frosting was amazing as well. I just made it for Valentines Day 2019 and my 3 boys and hubby loved it. Thank you!!

Hi Michelle! Doubling this and converting to a cake for a friend’s birthday….I see you converted to a 9 inch cake…. did you just double the frosting as well? Thoughts on using the frosting from the hummingbird cake instead or have you ever done an almond cream cheese frosting [if so do you have a recipe]?

Also for cocoa thoughts on King Arthur burgundy instead of the pure unsweet?

I have tried so many recipes before, looking for the one I love, and now I have. I do want to ask that can I double the recipe if I want to make more cupcakes? It would bring out the same taste right? I really love your recipe and I don’t want go look for any other and I don’t want it to go waste if I try doubling it myself. Please do let me know. Thanks again

I think this is a great recipe, but my 1st batch I did to the letter & I just wasn’t totally content. The 2nd batch I pretty much did the same recipe but threw in a little lemon juice in batter then found that mixing the salt, b.soda, vinegar together before adding worked best for me. Also in 2nd batch mixed buttermilk w/cocoa, vanilla & color. It just made more sense for me. And I will agree w/some commenters that it is a lot of red but hey if u want a lovely red u gotta do what u gotta do. Plus, its not like we eat it everyday! Thanks Brown Eyed Baker! It was so much fun! & got to make frosting for 1st time in a stand mixer hehe

I made this recipe a few times, years ago (before this recipe was reposted). I just went to make it again but my butter and sugar didn’t cream! It just turned into a very gritty paste. Has the recipe changed or have I done something wrong??

Just made these and they came out perfect! A bit deeper red as opposed to bright like your pics, but still plenty recognizable as red velvet. I tripled the recipe and got 30 cupcakes, which was the perfect amount – 24 for a work party and an extra 6 to keep home for my family. I’m going to stuff them with white chocolate whipped cream and top them with marscapone-cream cheese frosting. I think they’ll be a hit!

I questioned the quantity of ingredients and surprised it called out 12 cupcakes. I doubled the recipe and only got 20 cupcakes out of it. They rose beautifully and smell amazing. The batter tased good but as the cupcakes are cooling now I have to wait to eat it. I did leave out the food color but I usually do that. I’m only annoyed about the quantity as I really needed 24 cupcakes. Now I need to make another batch.

What kind of food coloring do you use? i live in Germany and the quantities are really small so they turned out rather purple brownish. I haven’t tasted them yet but i love the bright red color in yours!

So. I was having a school bake sale and one of the more popular ideas was to do a red velvet cupcacke. Me, being the person I am, chose the first one that popped up. BUT LET ME SAY. These cupcackes are the absolute best! Everything is perfect and they were a huge hit. (:

This recipe is amazing! Thank you SO much for sharing this! I followed the cupcake instructions exactly as written, except added a little more colouring for personal preference. (I used both liquid and gel.) One other small tweak I made was to cream the butter on its own for a few minutes first, before adding in the cream cheese, and then popping the bowl in the fridge every couple of minutes to keep everything from getting too soft/warm. I think this helped to retain a firmer texture for piping. The recipe proportions were PERFECT. I made them into mini cupcakes (baked for about 12 mins, though started checking around 10) and they were all gone within about 5 minutes! Thank you for the perfect red velvet recipe!

Hi I just tried making the red velvet cupcakes, is the cocoa definitely 2 1/2 tbsps? Can you give that in grams? It seemed too much? It didn’t make a smooth paste, was really dry and lumpy, I don’t know where I went wrong! Thanks Liz

Does that mean the amount of flour in *total* should be 145 grams? Because 1 cup with my measuring spoons says its equal to around 180 grams of flour, and more with the additional two tablespoons, which seems like a lot for these cupcakes.

Love love love love this recipe! It only makes a dozen so it was a perfect treat for the kids. I recommend adding only 1/2 cup of sugar, as the full 3/4 cups is slightly too sweet for me. Also, the cream cheese buttercream is fantastic! It’s not overly sweet like a lot of other recipes for buttercream and it pairs very nicely with the cake. I will be making more of this soon!

First time making Red Velvet and these came out fantastic! Thank you so much for this recipe. I made my own buttermilk. (I always do, per your suggestion, I use your recipes quite often) I could not find enough liquid red food colouring. I ended up with 2 tbsp. So, I used 1 tsp Sugarflair Gel Paste Claret, enough tbsp of water to make the paste with the cocoa powder. (I think it was another 2-2.1-1/2 tbsp of water) I doubled the batch to make 24 cupcakes for Canada Day! My cupcakes aren’t the light red like yours, but they taste amazing. I also doubled the icing, but I don’t think I needed to do that. Here’s a link to my Instagram, I should have taken a single picture without a liner on it, so you could better see the actual cupcake. Thanks again, for all your wonderful recipes! :) These were a hit!https://www.instagram.com/p/BkppamOnBKUDj25Zqqrn-nsRNTm8xJvwnBUHX40/?taken-by=leonievanpuymbroeck